With energy needs of society growing each year, efforts to obtain the maximum benefit from conventional and alternative sources has intensified in recent years. Technology and capital is being harnessed and allocated to search for new energy sources that range from deep-water oil drilling off the continental shelves to hydrogen fusion and from windmills to natural gas. Hydroelectric power is also being employed as most notably attested to by the Three River Gorges dam in China. However, hydroelectric power generation doesn't have to be limited to locations astride the major rivers of the world. Numerous geographic locales include swiftly running or hard running streams that if properly utilized could provide the power needs—at low cost or no cost—to small villages and towns and to rural areas that may be otherwise hard to service. The hydroelectric power generation devices that would utilize narrow, hard running streams as the source of electric generation would need to be easy to transport and set up, relatively simple in construction and operation, and generally low maintenance. The prior art discloses a number of varied examples wherein waterpower is used in the generation of electricity.
For example, the Watkins patent (U.S. Pat. No. 1,280,617) discloses a water power plant that includes both horizontal and vertical surfaces that convey water to a bucket wheel or paddle for turning the paddle.
The Rogers patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,268,757) discloses a water wheel electric generation device that includes a platform mounted on fixed pylons with the platform slidable on the pylons as a result of tidal changes, and mounted on the platform are a plurality of radial paddle arms that are interconnected to a gearing arrangement.
The Aucoin Jr. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,990) discloses a water powered electric generator that includes a pair of pontoons disposed within a stream and held apart by a bottom wall and an endless belt and a row of paddle wheels located between the pontoons for harnessing the water power.
The Jost patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,808) discloses a water wheel installation that includes a plurality of anchored pontoons supporting a plurality of water wheels with the pontoons forming a number of water channels that flow past and turn the water wheels.
The Harris patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,717,832) discloses a tidal and river turbine that includes a plurality of augurs disposed within the water flow which are interconnected to hydroelectric generators mounted on a topside platform.
The Wiggs patent (U.S. Pat. No. 4,725,195) discloses a piggyback waterpower generator that includes side pontoons that angle water away from the water flowing directly into the paddle wheels, and wheels mounted to the lower end of cone-shaped legs that allow the positioning of the waterpower generator in shallow water.
Nonetheless, despite the ingenuity of the above devices, there remains a need for a paddle wheel electric generation device that is easy to construct and install, generally is maintenance free, and produces low cost or no cost electricity.